


That's why

by beepbeepbop



Category: Free!
Genre: Jealous Nanase Haruka, M/M, POV Outsider, oblivious!makoto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-21 09:00:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4823075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beepbeepbop/pseuds/beepbeepbop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 times somebody else had romantic intents towards Makoto, and the one time nobody did.</p><p> </p><p>In the points of view of other people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That's why

_Damn._

That’s the first word that pops into Akane’s mind as she emerges from the ladies bathroom, directed at the glorious sight of a really nice, broad back of a tall guy with equally hot muscled long legs.

She didn’t expect to find hot guys _this_ fast. Usually, the guys hanging around in the public pool were either a) creepy and weird, b) old, or c) 4 years old.

The dude walks towards the edge of the pool and when he gets in it, she is rewarded with a side view of the guy.

The flash of toned, muscular abs of the hottie makes her think, _today is her lucky day._

But she’s not the only one whose attention is on him. She sees a few other girls eyeing him up too.

 

Well, she better act fast.

She strides over to the lane where he’s swimming the backstroke and plants herself on the edge of the pool.

She adjusts her bikini straps and runs a hand through her long brown hair, making sure the wavy hair falls around her face attractively.

She waits for the guy to notice her as he swims, headfirst, towards her.

He only seems to when he stops to pull off his goggles judging by the green eyes that widen when they meet hers.

“Hey,” she says casually.

“Um, hi.” He replies, but with an unspoken question in his eyes.

“You look really familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?” She asks.

 

The guy seems to buy the classic excuse to talk to him. 

He scratches his head. “Haha, maybe. Sorry, I’m not too sure either.”

“It’s okay. Anyway, I’m Akane.”

“I’m Tachibana.” He seems to get that she wants his name.

“So you swim often?” She decides that some small talk would be effective to avoid scaring off the guy.

“Yeah, but usually in school. The pool’s closed today, though, and Haru wanted to swim.” He explains, smiling. His eyes seem to soften—Akane prays that whoever Tachibana just mentioned - _Haru_ \- isn’t his girlfriend.

 

And she notices half a head poking out of the pool, about two feet behind Tachibana, blue eyes trained on her.

Feeling slightly weirded out, she ignores him.

 

“So… You want to grab a bite together after this?” she leans forward slightly, making sure that Tachibana is getting the best view of her—Hey, what the hell. He’s not even _looking_.

The creepy dark-haired dude has slowly been swimming towards them and Tachibana’s turning to him, as he resurfaces behind him.

“Haru! This pool is pretty great too, isn’t it?” Tachibana asks, face lit up at the sight of _Haru_ , and also completely ignoring her.

The slight relief that Haru’s isn’t his girlfriend dissipates as annoyance takes over.

The guy shrugs. “It's alright. Who’s this?” He asks, and Tachibana finally turns around to face her again.

She would perk up at the attention, but the way _Haru_ is looking at her is making her hackles rise.

“Oh, Haru, this is Akane. She was wondering if we wanted to eat something with her after swimming.”

 

_We?_

“Okay. I’ll get a mackerel bun.” Haru says.

She stares at the dude in disbelief. Does he like _not_ get that she has only invited Tachibana—oh, the look on his face right now is telling her that he _definitely_ knows, he’s doing this _deliberately._

 

Oh.

The _back off_ in his eyes is clear as day, and it becomes evident that Haru may not be Makoto’s girlfriend, but it’s definitely up there.

 

Okay, fine.

 

“Hey, i just remembered, i have plans later on. Sorry, i guess i can’t join you two.” Akane says, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes as she sees a flash of satisfaction cross Haru’s stoic face.

She has no intention of becoming the third party, and it’s not like Tachibana is the only hot guy around.

“Oh, that’s okay. It was nice meeting you.” Tachibana smiles, not seeming particularly sad as he turns to Haru. “Let’s go to that snack stop along the road later on…”

Akane stops listening to their conversation just as she spots a red-haired hottie coming out of the bathroom.

 

He catches her looking, and gives her a wink.

 

Well hel- _lo_.

 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

 

Tachibana is hot.

 

This is the fact that’s becoming more and more apparent to Miyagi ever since she broke up with her boyfriend— _ex_ boyfriend— yesterday.

Because da- _mn_ , look at those broad shoulders and those _muscles_. She slings her bag higher up her shoulder as she leans against a nearby wall.

His build is perfect for her to lean on, unlike somebody who always complained about his chest being uncomfortable when she does that. It’s a good thing they broke up, Miyagi thinks.

 

Now, _Tachibana_ —Tachibana would make the _perfect_ boyfriend. He would help her carry all her bags and would never complain. Like, it’s obvious that he’s patient—look at the weird antisocial dark haired guy that he always hangs out with. Tachibana’s got to have _alot_ of patience talking to the unresponsive guy.

 

But, now, the dark-haired guy is nowhere to be seen.

Tachibana is standing alone, tall and almost out of place outside the toilet.

Miyagi smiles at her luck. Finally, she catches him without the dark-haired guy— _Nanase_ , she recalls—hanging around. When Tachibana becomes her boyfriend, _she_ will take up all his time.

She arranges her fringe a little, and strides up to Tachibana.

“Hey.” She lets a small smile play at her lips when Tachibana’s eyes finally turn to her.

“—Oh! Hey…” Tachibana blinks down at her, seemingly surprised but he smiles at her. He tilts his head, squinting, then his face brightens, “Miyagi-kun!”

 

Woah. She momentarily forgets what she’s wants to say (ignoring the fact that he forgot her name)—Tachibana is _cute_ …That’s interesting.

 

She doesn’t think she’s ever dated a genuinely _cute_ boy. All of them were—

 

 _Focus_ , she reminds herself. She smiles back at him. “Hey, do you like action/horror movies?” The words come out casual, and she waits for his face to light up.

 

It doesn’t.

 

Instead, it pales and Tachibana draws back a little, staring at her. “Horror?” he asks.

 

That’s weird. All boys love horror, right? Or at least, they _pretend_ to.

 

“Uh, yeah. The newest one coming out, is about the girl that goes to the forest at night during a hide and seek game. Want to catch it together?” She lowers her eyelashes and tilts her lips.

 

“Uh, I…” Tachibana doesn’t seem to notice her seductive smile, instead he suddenly looks particularly interested in something on the ground.

 

When he finally looks up at her, apologetic, she is momentarily stunned “I…”

 

“He’s not interested.”

 

Miyagi snaps her eyes to the source of the ridiculously rude statement. When the hell did the dark haired guy appear?

 

“H-Haru!” Although Tachibana’s tone holds a slightly chiding edge towards his blunt friend, he’s visibly relieved at the sight of said friend.

Nanase gives Tachibana a look laced with what seems like exasperation.

 

So he isn’t so emotionless, after all. Even his eyebrows are furrowed, lips pressed together.

 

Geez, what crawled up his ass and died? She thinks. She opens her mouth to ask Nanase _if she was talking to him_ —

 

“Makoto is going to watch a movie with _me_.” Nanase says.

 

— _what?_

 

“What?” Tachibana’s voice, soft and surprised, echoes her thoughts.

 

“We’re going to watch that new cat movie, right?” Nanase looks at Tachibana— his gaze is purposeful, but there’s a slight hint of uncertainty there too, and _oh_.

 

Miyagi understands what is going on here.

 

But it seems like Tachibana _doesn’t_ , as he blinks, confusion swirling in his eyes even as he stammers out a “—right! We are.”

 

Miyagi catches the moment, the split second when the nervousness on Nanase’s face is replaced by relief, before it was quickly smothered by a mask of indifference.

And then Nanase’s eyes flit back to Tachibana again, a quick glance, almost shy, that belies his impassive expression.

Miyagi glances at Tachibana, sees the pleased flush that spreads over his cheeks as he looks at Nanase, and _Jesus, it’s like she isn’t even there._

She can’t believe how sickeningly sweet they are.

 

“Woah, okay.” She holds up her hands, backing off.

Nanase and Tachibana turn to her like they’re surprised she’s still there, and _rude._

 

She could practically hear Nanase’s silent “Why are you still here?”

As she walks away, she adds a “If you want to catch that movie, you can call me anytime, _Tachibana_.” , just to spite Nanase, and it seems to work, judging by the look he gives her.

Predictably, Tachibana doesn’t call her.

 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

 

Okay, Takara would be lying if she says she can’t pinpoint the exactly moment that this crush manifested.

 

_2 days ago…_

 

“—Oh, shit.” Her elbow knocks her eraser off her table, and Takara watches as her cat shaped eraser roll behind her and stop when it knocks against the table leg of Makoto Tachibana.

He notices, and picks it up, offering back to her. “Here you go.” He smiles.

 

Oh, _my_.

 

That is a _really_ nice smile.

“Thanks!” She winces as her voice comes out an octave too high. She hastily snatches the eraser from his outstretched palm and turns back to her notes, heart pounding.

Needless to say, that’s the beginning of her crush on Tachibana Makoto. Since then, she’s only found him more and more handsome every day, with every glance.

And he’s so _nice_.

She stands outside the classroom. It’s break time and she can’t believe she’s about to do this—ask him if he wants to eat lunch together.

 _Ok, deep breaths,_ she tells herself, and walks into the class.

Her eyes zero in on his seat, and —

 

It’s empty.

 

She bites her lip, disappointment building up in her chest.

But maybe she still can find him.

“Hey, Tadeki, do you know where Makoto-kun is? ” She asks, soft enough that no one else would hear.

 

Big blue eyes blink back at her though black frames, then a “he’s most likely at the rooftop.”

 

The rooftop?

 

“Oh, okay. Thanks!” She flashes him a smile, and tries not to seem so eager.

"No problem." He bites his lip, giving her a strange, indecipherable look.

She gets to the rooftop, and wow—the view’s actually really nice. It’s completely open, the blue sky and fluffy white clouds seem much closer—like she could almost reach out to touch them.

 

And she hears a rustling sound on the other side, behind the white wall.

 

It’s now or never.

 

She steps out, towards the sound, and—

 

The words die in throat.

It’s not like she didn’t anticipate the possibly of Makoto-kun having company, and in came in the form of Haruka-kun, sitting crosslegged beside Makoto, their knees close enough to touch.

 

But honestly, she didn’t expect this—the way Makoto is tilting his head towards Haruka-kun, how he’s looking at him.

 

 

Because the smile Makoto-kun gave her is _nothing_ compared to the one he’s giving Haruka-kun—it’s softer, fonder, and Takara knows, _instantly_ , that she can’t compete.

 

This is the way Makoto-kun _always_ looks at Haruka-kun, she realises, but this is the first time she really _notices_.

 

And honestly, she berates herself for never really actually _seeing_ the way they look at each other—maybe she’s not as observant as she likes to think she is.

 

She steps back quickly, feeling like she’s intruding on something private, and they don’t notice her, thankfully.

She tries to sort out what she’s feeling —disappointed , sure, but not that upset, actually.

 

Makoto-kun is a real nice guy, and she’s glad that Haruka-kun makes him happy.

 

She goes back to class to eat her bento resignedly.

Tadeki asks to join her, in that shy awkward way that she can’t help but find endearing.

 

The lunch break turns out to be pretty okay.

 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

 

Kisumi grins as he spots the familiar head of brown hair, bent down next to a head of dark hair.

 

“Hey Makoto! Hey Haru!” He exclaims, slinging his arms over both their shoulders, and squeezes in between them, separating them from where their shoulders were brushing.

 

“Hey, Kisumi!” Green eyes are bright and excited at the sight of him, but blue eyes—

 

—not so much, judging by how it’s glowering at him and how Haru’s slapping his hand away.

Kisumi pouts at Haru, and Haru turns away, looking annoyed.

 

Kisumi doesn’t take it to heart.

Haru’s held a grudge against him ever since that one time when he planted a kiss on Makoto’s cheek out of excitement, like 5 years ago.

Those two have always been weird about each other, but Haru—

 

Haru’s _way_ too obvious about it.

 

How he seems to orbit around Makoto—like there’s some sort of force pulling them together within a few feet from each other, the intense yet soft expression he gets when actually looking at the boy, the unspoken communication he has with Makoto, the crazy mind reading thing where it seems like they can read each other just with one glance.

 

Seems.

 

Kisumi says _seems_ , because no matter how obvious Haru is, Makoto never really notices.

 

And _c'mon_ , what kind of friend would he be if he didn’t tease Haru about it, and take advantage of it?

 

“Hey, d'you guys want to come to this carnival with me?” Kisumi waves the pamphlet in the air. “There’s food, rides, activities—”

“No.” Haru says it fast.

_As he expected._

Kisumi holds back a smile.

Instead, he pretends to be hurt.

“Haru! ” Makoto frowns at Haru, and Haru turns away, an annoyed expression taking over his face.

“How about you, Makoto?” Kisumi makes sure he looks hopeful, hopeful enough that Makoto would say—

 

“Yeah, it sounds fun. I’d love to go.” Makoto smiles, and shit. It’s a pity that he’s so far gone on Haru, because Makoto Tachibana is seriously a catch.

“Yay! We’re going to have so much fun, Makoto!” Kisumi grins at Makoto, making sure to touch Makoto’s arm unnecessarily.

 

Sure enough, Haru’s staring at Kisumi, eyes flickering from where his fingers are touching Makoto to his face, then back to their place of contact.

 

He’s practically glowering at him.

 

“There’s going to be so many fun rides—they even have a Ferris Wheel! And those game booths that offer soft toys as prizes…Will you win one for me?”

 

_Snap._

 

Kisumi almost hears the _ok that’s it, that’s enough_ in Haru’s brain as Haru says, loud enough for both pairs of eyes to turn to him instantly, “I’ll go.”

 

Kisumi resists the urge to smirk. Haru-chan is not only obvious, he’s _easy._

 

Makoto blinks, then grins teasingly at Haru. “I didn’t even have to pull the ‘pool’ card, Haru!”

 

Haru’s looking away, cheeks flushed and annoyed and Kisumi swears he’s a freaking mind reader—at least for Haru, because he can definitely tell what he’s thinking right now—

 

 _Shit I should’ve waited til Makoto pulled out the pool card am I too obvious_ and of course, _Fucking Kisumi_.

 

Kisumi makes sure to sling his other arm around Haru again, exclaiming “ I knew you would come around, Haru-chan!”

Haru shrugs it off, but he glances at Makoto’s smile, and Kisumi sees his lips twitch.

 

 

They’re surprisingly bad at the game booths.

 

When Makoto finally successfully throws all three hoops on the bottles, he is elated.

He looks nervous yet hopeful as he offers the soft toy to Haru.

 

Haru clutches the blue dolphin in his hands and Kisumi can _see_ him struggling against a blush, before he turns away.

“Thanks.” He mumbles.

Makoto’s smiling, eyes crinkly and all that.

Of course, Kisumi has to ruin the moment before he chokes on the rainbows, hearts and sappiness surrounding them.

“Where’s mine, Makoto?”

 

(But honestly, he’s happy for his friends.)

 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

 

_This is kind of boring._

Hirata taps on the cashier counter and stares out of the window, at the raindrops pelting onto the ground , and sighs.

If this is what Uncle does on a daily basis, he must lead an uneventful and mundane life.

 

To top it all off, the wet weather seems to have kept all the customers away, and _there goes his chance of meeting any cute boys._

But then when someone steps into the shop, he realises that he may have spoken too soon.

 

He sits up straight.

 

The guy is tall, obviously fit because _look at those arms_ , with head of brown hair that he’d like to run his fingers through.

Bright green eyes dart around the shop, and then lands on him.

He looks slightly surprised to see him at the register, and Hirata quickly says “I’m Hirata. My uncle’s sick today and I’m covering for him.”

 

 _Okay, keep it cool_ , he tells himself. But if this guy is a regular here, Hirata might seriously volunteer to help out this shop more.

 

Understanding flashes in the guy’s eyes, as his face turns sympathetic. “I hope he gets well soon. He’s a really nice person.” And shit, his voice is gentle and soft for such a tall dude.

 

“I’ll make sure to give him your well wishes, —” Hirata trails off purposefully, glancing up at Hot Guy under his eyelashes.

 

“—oh! I’m Tachibana.” Hot Guy says, but seems oblivious to his flirting as his eyes dart around the shop.

“Do you guys sell umbrellas?” He looks at Hirata hopefully.

 

“Actually, we don't—”

 

At the disappointment that immediately flashes on Tachibana’s face, Hirata quickly added “—but I could lend you mine.”

 

Tachibana looks up, hope evident on his face, but doubt quickly takes over. “Are you sure? I don’t think I should just take your umbrella—”

“It’s okay. Really. ” Hirata quickly dishes out his umbrella from his bag and offers it to Tachibana, making sure to brush against his arm as he hands it over.

 

_Cough._

Hirata snaps his eyes towards the person standing inside the shop at the entrance, realizing that he so focused on Tachibana that he failed to notice the slightly wet guy that enters the shop at some point.

 

Hmm, he’s pretty cute too.

But he’s staring back at Hirata, and Hirata is pretty sure it’s _not_ in the good way.

_Why is he glaring at him?_

 

Tachibana’s turning around too, and Hirata catches the moment that his eyes light up, before —

“Haru, I told you to wait in school, didn’t I? Look, now you’re all wet.”

The way Tachibana is approaching and fussing over 'Haru’ belies his chiding, disapproving tone as he talks about hypothermia or something.

 

And _oh._

 

 _That’s_ why 'Haru’ is glaring at him.

 

“What’s wrong, Haru?” Tachibana turns to see what’s in ’ Haru’s ’ line of sight—basically, him.

“Oh—that’s Hirata-kun! He’s kind enough to lend us an umbrella.” Makoto smiles at Hirata, and Hirata smiles back.

 

It’s kind of amusing watching 'Haru’ clench his jaw as he looks away, trying to maintain an indifferent expression.

“Let’s go, Makoto.” He says curtly, turning to leave.

Makoto opens the umbrella, and turns to wave at Hirata. “Bye, and thanks again!”

_Damn it, he should’ve known that he’s too good to be available._

Hirata waves back, and watches them as they walk out of the shop.

 

Amidst the rain, Hirata sees how 'Haru’ is walking closer to Tachibana, close enough that their shoulders brush

He also notices how Tachibana’s holding the umbrella in the way that it covers 'Haru’ significantly more than it does himself.

 

_Well, you can’t blame him for trying._

Hirata sighs, resuming tapping his fingers on the counter.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ 

 

And one time nobody did, because whether he knows it or not, Makoto Tachibana is so obviously taken.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Comments and feedback will be precious ・(￣∀￣)・:*:


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